SAMHAIN
Colors: Orange and Black
Foods : Nuts, apples, pumpkins
Samhain means "Summer's end". Now begins the winter half of the year. This was the night, and all the first week of November that once blazed with ritual fires. November 1st was the beginning of the year itself for the Celts. The feast of Samhain was the New Year's Eve. This night belongs neither to the past or the present. Neither to this world or the Other.
For the farmers of old, it was not possible to keep their entire herds alive though the winter. So, only the minimum breeding stock was maintained, and the rest was slaughtered. Some of these animals came to be cooked on the Samhain fires, and the rest were salted and preserved.
Crops too, had to be gathered by October 31st. Anything that was not harvested was abandoned. This was done through fear of the Pooka (Puca), a nocturnal shape-changing hobgoblin who enjoyed bothering humans. The Pooka was said to spend Samhain night contaminating and destroying whatever remained. It's favorite disguise was the form of an ugly black horse.
Samhain was also said to be the start of the reign of The Lord of Misrule, which traditionally lasts from now 'till Candlemas. This figure had serious undertones. With the coming of winter, the old agriculturists looked chaos in the face. Many of them didn't survive the winters. By challenging the Lord of Misrule, and laughing with it, they proclaimed their faith that the God and Goddess cannot allow them to be swept away. People feasted whole heartedly, for they knew it might be the last proper meal they would get that winter. Even still, with a hard winter to face, human sacrifice was a grim and serious affair. Criminals were saved up for this purpose. Although, at one time the ageing king was called for sacrifice. Whatever the case, there is no doubt that the sacrifices were done by fire.
At this time of the year, the Veil between the worlds is very thin. The door to the Other world lies open, and neither spirit nor human need a password to go through. Spirits of the dead are said to seek the warmth of the Samhain fire and communication with the living. Households would set meals for the wandering spirits. Samhain is the time for the old and dying, and the new still unborn. The Samhain ritual centers around helping the dead to reincarnate through the
Great Mother.
Witches used lanterns made out of pumpkins and turnips to cover up their meetings at this time. The hollowed out pumpkin with a face cut on it, was prepared with a candle inside to shine through. These were then slung from poles, and in the distance would look like a procession of goblins. Turnips were made up in the same manner to provide smaller pixie faces. These served a double purpose. To light the path to the woodlands, and to frighten away the curious.
Many kinds of divination are associated with Samhain. These are mostly directed at discovering the person one is fated to marry, hence they were usually practiced by younger people.
So, Samhain was at one hand, a time of sacrifice, communion with the dead and divination, and on the other hand an uninhibited feast of eating and drinking in the face of the closing dark.
Of all the eight Sabbaths, some feel this is one in which the Great Rite should be stressed. Be it performed symbolically or for real. The thought process is that because Samhain is so intimately concerned with death, and the dead, it should conclude with a solemn reaffirmation of life. Others prefer not to dilute the solemnity of the Sabbat in that way. It is ultimately the individual practitioner’s choice
Note** On the issue of communication with the dead. It would be well to remember that these should be invited, not summoned.
Of all forms of caution, caution in love is perhaps the most fatal to true
happiness.' -- Bertrand Russell
CHARMED, I'M SURE. The Ethics of Love Spells
To gain the love of someone: On a night of the full moon, walk to a spot beneath your beloved's bedroom window, and whisper his/her name three times to the night wind.. --Ozark love spell
It seems to be an immutable law of nature. You are interviewed by a local radio or TV station, or in some local newspaper. The topic of the interview is Witchcraft or Paganism, and you spend the better part of an hour brilliantly articulating your beliefs, your devotion to Goddess and nature, the difference between Witchcraft and Satanism, and generally enlightening the public at large. The next day, you are flooded with calls.
Is it people complimenting you on such a splendid interview? No. People wanting to find out more about the religion of Wicca? Huh-uh. People who are even vaguely interested in what you had to say??? Nope.
Who is it? It's people asking you to do a love spell for them! This used to drive me nuts. I'd take a deep breath and patiently explain (for the thousandth time) why I won't even do love spells for myself, let alone anyone else.
This generally resulted in my caller becoming either angry or defensive, but seldom more enlightened. 'But don't you DO magic?', they ask. 'Only occasionally,' I answer. 'And aren't most magic spells love spells?', they persist.
That was the line I really hated, because I knew they were right! At least, if you look at the table of contents of most books on magic, you'll find more love spells than any other kind. This seems as true for the medieval grimoire as for the modern drugstore paperback.
Why? Why so many books containing so many love spells? Why such an emphasis on a kind of magic that I, personally, have always considered very negative?
And to make matters even more confusing, the books that do take the trouble of dividing spells between 'positive' and 'negative' magic invariably list love spells under the first heading. After all, they would argue, love is a good thing. There can never be too much of it. Therefore, any spell that brings about love must be a GOOD spell. Never mind that the spell puts a straightjacket on another's free will, and then drops it in cement for good measure. And that is why I had always assumed love magic to be negative magic.
Years ago, one of the first things I learned as a novice Witch was something called the Witch's Rede, a kind of 'golden rule' in traditional Witchcraft. It states, 'An it harm none, do what thou will.'
One uses this rede as a kind of ethical litmus test for a spell. If the spell brings harm to someone -- anyone (including yourself!) -- then don't do it! Unfortunately, this rule contains a loophole big enough to fly a broom through.
It's commonly expressed, 'Oh, this won't HARM them; it's really for their own good.' When you hear someone say that, take cover, because something especially nasty is about to happen.
That's why I had to develop my own version of the Witch's Rede. Mine says that if a spell harms anyone, OR LIMITS THEIR FREEDOM OF THOUGHT OR ACTION IN ANY WAY, then consider it negative, and don't do it. Pretty strict, you say ? Perhaps. But there's another law in Witchcraft called the Law of Threefold Return. This says that whatever power you send out, eventually comes back to you three times more powerful.
So I take no chances. And love spells, of the typical make-Bobby- love-me type, definitely have an impact on another's free will. So why are they so common? It's taken me years to make peace with this, but I think I finally understand. The plain truth is that most of us NEED love.
Without it, our lives are empty and miserable. After our basic survival needs have been met, we must have affection and companionship for a full life. And if it will not come of its own accord, some of us may be tempted to FORCE it to come. And nothing can be as painful as loving some one who doesn't love you back. Consequently, the most common, garden-variety spell in the
world is the love spell.
Is there ever a way to do a love spell and yet stay within the parameters of the Witch's Rede? Possibly. Some teachers have argued that if a spell doesn't attempt to attract a SPECIFIC person into your life, but rather attempts to attract the RIGHT person, whomever that
may be, then it is not negative magic.
Even so, one should make sure that the spell finds people who are 'right' for each other -- so that neither is harmed, and both are made happy.
Is there ever an excuse for the make-Bobby-love-me type of spell? Without endorsing this viewpoint, I must admit that the most cogent argument in its favor is the following: Whenever you fall in love with someone, you do everything in your power to impress them. You dress nicer, are more attentive, witty, and charming. And at the same time, you unconsciously set in motion some very powerful psychic forces. If you've ever walked into a room where someone has a crush on you, you know what I mean. You can FEEL it. Proponents of this school say that a love spell only takes the forces that are ALREADY there -- MUST be there if you're in love --and channels them more efficiently.
But the energy would be there just the same, whether or not you use a spell to focus it. I won't attempt to decide this one for you. People must arrive at their own set of ethics through their own considerations. However, I would call to your attention all the cautionary tales in folk magic about love spells gone awry. Also, if a love spell has been employed to join two people who are not naturally compatible, then one must keep pumping energy into the spell. And when one finally tires of this (and one will, because it is hard work!) then the spell will unravel amidst an emotional and psychic hurricane that will make the stormiest divorces seem calm by comparison. Not a pretty picture. It should be noted that many spells that pass themselves off as love spells are, in realty, sex spells.
Not that there's anything surprising in that, since our most basic needs usually include sex. But I think we should be clear from the outset what kind of spell it is. And the same ethical standards used for love spells can often be applied to sex spells. Last year, the very quotable Isaac Bonewits, author of 'Real Magic', taught a sex magic class here at the Magick Lantern, and he tossed out the following rule of thumb: Decide what the mundane equivalent of your spell would be, and ask yourself if you could be arrested for it. For example, some spells are like sending a letter to your beloved in the mail, whereas other spells are tantamount to abduction. The former is perfectly legal and normal, whereas the latter is felonious.
One mitigating factor in your decisions may be the particular tradition of magic you follow. For example, I've often noticed that practitioners of Voudoun (Voodoo) and Santeria seem much more focused on the wants and needs of day-to-day living than on the abstruse ethical considerations we've been examining here. That's not a value judgement -- just an observation. For example, most followers of Wicca STILL don't know how to react when a Santerian priest spills the blood of a chicken during a ritual -- other than to feel pretty queasy. The ethics of one culture is not always the same as another. And speaking of cultural traditions, another consideration is how a culture views love and sex. It has often been pointed out that in our predominant culture, love and sex are seen in very possessive terms, where the beloved is regarded as one's personal property. If the spell uses this approach, treating a person as an object, jealously attempting to cut off all other relationships, then the ethics are seriously in doubt. However, if the spell takes a more open approach to love and sex, not attempting to limit a person's other relationships in any way, then perhaps it is more defensible. Perhaps. Still, it might be wise to ask, Is this the kind of spell I'd want someone to cast on me? Love spells. Whether to do them or not. If you are a practitioner of magic, I dare say you will one day be faced with the choice. If you haven't yet, it is only a matter of time. And if the answer is yes, then which spells are ethical and which aren't? Then you, and only you, will have to decide whether 'All's fair in love and war', or whether there are other, higher, metaphysical considerations.
Deirdra
CANDLE MAGIC
1 One of the simplest of magical arts which comes under the heading of natural magic is candle burning. It is simple because it employs little ritual and few ceremonial artifacts. The theatrical props of candle magic can be
purchased at any department store and its rituals can be practiced in any sitting room or bedroom.
2 Most of us have performed our first act of candle magic by the time we are two years old. Blowing out the tiny
candles on our first birthday cake and making a wish is pure magic. This childhood custom is based on the three magical principals of concentration, will power and visualization. In simple terms, the child who wants his wish to come true has to concentrate (blow out the candles), visualize the end result (make a wish) and hope that it will come true( will power).
3 The size and shape of the candles you use is unimportant, although highly decorative, extra large, or
unusually shaped candles will not be suitable as these may create distractions when the magician wants to concentrate on the important work in hand. Most magicians prefer to use candles of standard or uniform size if possible. Those which are sold in different colors for domestic use are ideal.
4 The candles you use for any type of magical use should be virgin, that is unused. Under no circumstances use a candle which has already adorned a dinner table or been used as a bedroom candle or night-light. There is a very good occult reason for not using anything but virgin materials in magic. Vibrations picked up by secondhand materials or equipment may disturb your workings and negate their effectiveness.
5 Some magicians who are artistically inclined prefer to make their own candles for ritual and magical use. This is a very practical exercise because not only does it impregnate the candle with your own personal vibrations, but the mere act of making your own candle is magically potent. Specialist shops sell candle wax and moulds together with wicks, perfumes, and other equipment. Just remember that making candles is a precise and potentially messy, even dangerous undertaking. If you have an open flame or coil element stove it is safer to purchase your candles from a reputable candlemaker.
6 The hot wax is heated until liquid and then poured into the mould through which a suitably sized wick has already been threaded. The wax is then left to cool and once is this has occurred the mould is removed , leaving a perfectly formed candle. Special oil-soluble dyes and perfumes can be added to the wax before the cooling process is complete to provide suitable colors and scents for a particular magical ritual. Craft shops which sell candle making supplies can also provide do-it-yourself books explaining the technicalities of the art to the beginner.
7 Once you have purchased or made your ritual candle it has to be oiled or 'dressed' before burning. The purpose of dressing the candle is to establish a psychic link between it and the magician through a primal sensory experience. By physically touching the candle during the dressing procedure, you are charging it with our own personal vibrations and also concentrating the desire of your magical act into the wax. The candle is becoming an extension of the magician's mental power and life energy.
8 When you dress a candle for magical use, imagine that it is a psychic magnet with a North and a South pole. Rub the oil into the candle beginning at the top or North end and work downwards to the half-way point. Always brush in the same direction downwards. This process is then repeated by beginning at the bottom or south end and working up to the middle.
9 The best type of oils to use for dressing candles are natural ones which can be obtained quite easily. Some occult suppliers will provide candle magic oils with exotic names. If the magician does not want to use these, he can select suitable oils or perfumes from his own sources. The oils soluble perfumes sold by craft shops for inclusion in candles can be recommended.
10 the candles you use can be colored in accordance with various candle color charts (on separate pages) depending on the purpose you are working on:
11 If you wanted to use candle magic for healing, you would select a red candle to burn. To pass an exam, burn a yellow candle, to gain esoteric knowledge burn a blue candle or for material gain, burn a purple one. It is obvious these colors relate to the signs of the zodiac and the planetary forces.
12 The simplest form of candle magic is to write down the objective of your ritual on a virgin piece of paper. You
can use color paper which matches the candle. Write your petition on the paper using a magical alphabet, such as theban, enochian, malachain,etc. As you write down what you want to accomplish through candle magic-- a new job, healing for a friend, a change of residence, a new love affair, etc.-- visualize your dream coming true. Visualize the circumstances under which you might be offered a new job, imagine your employer telling you that your salary has been increased or conjure up a vision of your perfect love partner.
13 When you have completed writing down your petition, carefully fold up the paper in a deliberately slow fashion. Place the end of the folded paper in the candle flame and set light to it. As you do this concentrate once more on what you want from life.
14 When you have completed your ritual, allow the candle to have completely burned away. You do not need to stay with the candle after the ritual, but make sure that it is safe and that red-hot wax will not cause damage or fire.
15 If you are conducting a magical ritual which involves two people (e.g. an absent healing for a person some distance away) then the second person can be symbolically represented during the ritual by another candle. /all you need to do is find out the subject's birth date and burn the appropriate candle for that zodiacal sign.
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